IRAQ

Bush Emphasizes Opposition to Timetable - Steven Lee Meyers, New York Times

President Bush said Tuesday that Iraq wanted to include an “aspirational goal” for the departure of most foreign troops there in any agreement authorizing future American operations, but he reiterated his opposition to what he called “an artificial timetable for withdrawal.” His remarks reflected the growing doubt within the administration that the United States could negotiate the sweeping long-term agreement that would clear the way for American troops to operate in Iraq for many years to come. Mr. Bush and Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, had pledged to reach such an agreement last year.

Suicide Attacks Kill 28 Army Recruits - Londoño and Eggen, Washington Post

At least 28 Iraqi army recruits were killed Tuesday morning in two suicide bombings north of Baghdad in Diyala province, where the government has said it plans to launch an offensive against insurgent groups. Meanwhile, in Mosul, a city in northern Iraq, at least five people were killed and 11 wounded Tuesday in a series of bombings, Iraqi officials said. The twin bombings in Diyala occurred shortly after 8 a.m. at Camp Saad, a recruitment center east of Baqubah, the provincial capital, officials said. The first bomber detonated explosives among a group of recruits and the second targeted those who fled the site of the initial explosion, according to Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Rubaie, the commander of the Diyala military operations center. At least 57 people were wounded in the blasts, he said.

Suicide Bombers Kill 35 Iraqi Recruits - Richard Oppel Jr., New York Times

For all the statistics showing improved security in Iraq, many parts of the country remain astoundingly violent, places where bullet-ridden bodies turn up every day and bombs destroy lives and families in an instant. Nowhere is that more true than in Diyala, where Sunni Arab extremists have found refuge in the verdant river valley northeast of the provincial capital of Baquba. But in the aftermath of Tuesday morning’s attack, which struck more than 200 recruits at the Saad military base just east of Baquba, the wounded recruits and other survivors trained their fury at more than one culprit. The recruitment event had been advertised well in advance, but there was no security to prevent a bomber from entering the compound.

Suicide Bombers Strike Iraqi Security Recruits - Voice of America

Security officials in Iraq say at least two suicide bombers staged an attack at a security forces' recruitment facility, northeast of Baghdad, Tuesday morning, killing at least 28 people. An American military spokeswoman in Baghdad, Petty Officer Sarah Langdon, says early investigations indicate that more than one suicide bomber was involved in the attack targeting police recruits. "There was a multiple suicide vest attack this morning around 8 am, northeast of Baquba," said Langdon. "We believe that the attack was against Iraqi police recruits in the area." Iraqi security officials say at least 28 people were killed and nearly 57 others were wounded in the multiple blasts. They say the attack targeted Iraqi army recruits, not police recruits.

Hundreds of New Officers Join Iraqi Army, Air Force - AFPS

Amid showers of candy and shouts from family and friends, more than 250 new lieutenants joined the Iraqi army and air force after graduating from the Iraqi Military Academy here yesterday. The same day as the graduation at Rustamiyah, more than 400 cadets graduated from the academies at Zhako, Nasiriyah and Qualachalon. “You are the future of Iraq,” Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji said to the graduates. “You are who the country will count on for reconstruction and leadership.” The defense minister stressed the importance of working together for the country’s future. “From this place, I’m asking you all to be united,” he said. “All work as one team, for Iraq only. Remember that you all have the same enemy... The biggest medal you can wear on your chest is the trust of the Iraqi people.” US Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, told the graduates they were joining increasingly capable forces that will benefit from their leadership.

Kurds Protest Iraqi Election Law - Campbell Robertson, New York Times

The entire bloc of Kurdish lawmakers walked out of Iraq’s Parliament on Tuesday to protest a proposed provincial election law, contending that part of it was unconstitutional. The walkout by roughly a fifth of Parliament’s 275 members delayed voting on the bill, which governs provincial council elections scheduled to take place across Iraq this fall. The dispute could yet be resolved quickly, but it introduced more uncertainty into preparations for the nationwide elections. Parliament will meet again on Thursday to discuss the bill, several members said, and talks are continuing in small meetings. The walkout underscores the political power struggle among the Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen populations in the oil-rich northern province of Tamim and its ethnically mixed capital, Kirkuk. The Kurds, claiming an ethnic majority in Tamim, have pushed to postpone the provincial council vote until a census is taken, a special agreement is forged or a constitutionally mandated referendum is held on whether the city should stay under Baghdad’s administration or join the Kurdish regional government.

The New Reality in Iraq - Kagan, Kagan and Keane, Wall Street Journal opinion

All of the most important objectives of the surge have been accomplished in Iraq. The sectarian civil war is ended; al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has been dealt a devastating blow; and the Sadrist militia and other Iranian-backed militant groups have been disrupted. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has accomplished almost all of the legislative benchmarks set by the US Congress and the Bush administration. More important, it is gaining wider legitimacy among the population. The attention of Iraqis across the country is focused on the upcoming provincial elections, which will be a pivotal moment in Iraq's development. The result is that we have an extraordinary -- but fleeting -- opportunity to advance America's security and the stability of a vital region of the world.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Pakistan Post Was Not in US Records - Eric Schmitt, New York Times

The killing of 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers by American airstrikes last month might have been prevented if the precise location of a border checkpoint had been in an American database used to prevent accidental attacks on friendly forces, according to American and Pakistan officials. Had the grid coordinates of the post on the border with Afghanistan been in the database, red flags would have immediately gone up when allied troops called in airstrikes during a border clash with insurgents, American officials briefed on an investigation into the strikes said Tuesday.

US Troops Poised to Cross Afghan Border - Zahid Hussain, The Times

US troops in Afghanistan massed close to the border yesterday for a possible attack on al-Qaeda and Taleban bases in the lawless North Waziristan tribal belt in Pakistan. Reports from the area said that hundreds of Nato troops were airlifted across the mountains from the village of Lowara Mandi, which has been an important base for cross-border attacks in Afghanistan. Heavy artillery and armoured vehicles were also being moved into position. The deployment followed a claim by the Afghan Government on Monday that the Pakistani Army and its spy agency had become “the world's biggest producers of terrorism and extremism”. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry accused Kabul of creating an “artificial crisis to satisfy short-term political expediencies”.

Fight Drawing Foreign Jihadis - Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor

This week's brazen and deadly attack on a US-Afghan outpost in an area near the Pakistani border is raising new concerns that foreign fighters bent on fighting the West are retraining their sights from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sunday's predawn assault on the still-unfinished camp left nine US soldiers dead and was the worst single toll for US forces in Afghanistan since 2005. It came only a few days after the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said on a visit to Kabul that more foreign fighters are arriving in Pakistan's tribal areas just across the border. From there, he said, the foreign fighters, which intelligence has revealed includes members of Al Qaeda, can join Taliban forces in Afghanistan to launch attacks - like Sunday's - against US and Afghan forces.

Taliban Push Has US on Defensive - The Australian

The US's ability to defeat insurgents in Afghanistan has been thrown further into doubt after Sunday's deadly Taliban attack on a US outpost in the east of the country - an area recently touted as a counterinsurgency success. Increasingly bold attacks on US and NATO forces have forced them on to the defensive and analysts say coalition forces are now stretched to deal with deteriorating fronts both in the south and the east. The spike in attacks has raised alarm with Afghan officials, who yesterday accused neighbouring Pakistan of being an "exporter of terrorism". Afghanistan said yesterday it would boycott a series of meetings with Pakistan unless "bilateral trust" was restored. The cabinet decision was announced soon after President Hamid Karzai directly accused Pakistan's intelligence agency and military officials of involvement in the latest series of deadly attacks, including Sunday's killings and the bombing of the Indian embassy last week.

Afghan Troops Kill 7 Insurgents in Eastern Afghanistan - Voice of America

The Afghan Defense Ministry says its soldiers have killed seven insurgents near where militants breached a US military outpost in eastern Afghanistan. The ministry said Tuesday the operation took place Monday near Wanat district in Nuristan province. Local officials say Afghan and foreign soldiers briefly detained the district governor and police chief for questioning. It is unclear why they were detained. Nuristan borders Kunar province, where a large group of militants broke into a US outpost in a complex attack Sunday. Nine US troops were killed in what is one of the deadliest attacks on US forces since they forced the Taliban from power in 2001.

Confusion Left UK Soldiers Without Air Cover - Simon de Bruxelles, The Times

Two soldiers killed in a battle with the Taleban were left without air cover for an hour because of confusion over rules of engagement, an inquest was told yesterday. The night attack on Taleban positions near Garmsir in Helmand province in Afghanistan came to a halt after Major Jamie Nowell requested an air assault on a trench from which his men were being fired on. The attack by members of 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment was allowed to “engage identified enemy”, but air support was allowed to fire only in self-defence, Major Nowell told the inquests into the deaths of Private John Botha and Sergeant Craig Brelsford. Major Nowell found this out over the radio as his men came under attack from the trench, which protected at least four Taleban. The confusion meant that the chance to engage the Taleban was lost. He said that the confusion had dented the confidence of commanders on the ground but had had “no real impact” on the operation.

Pakistan's Enemy Within - The Australian editorial

The West cannot ignore a fracturing Pakistan forever. It has been clear for some time that the immediate stability of Afghanistan and the longer-term security of the West from the threat of terrorist attack by Islamic extremists will only come about if a more robust challenge is made to renegade security and intelligence forces in Pakistan. It remains an open secret that Pakistan, the West's ally-of-convenience in the region, has been playing a double game. For years, first-hand evidence has been incontrovertible that al-Qa'ida and other terrorists have been trained in military camps in the country's northwest border region. The political turmoil caused by the curtailing of the power of Pakistan strong man Pervez Musharraf and the assassination of favoured prime ministerial candidate Benazir Bhutto,earlier this year has served only to strengthen the hand of forces within Pakistan that remain loyal to the Taliban and its militant cause. The grim reality for NATO forces, including 1000 Australian troops, is that this instability has allowed hostilities in Afghanistan to broaden on to a second front in the east of the country, further stretching what is already a vastly under-resourced campaign.

Dispatches from the Battle - Magnus Linklater, The Times opinion

In essence, that is the Afghan challenge; and, for better or worse, it is one that we are landed with for years to come. How long does it take to transform a divided country from warzone to democracy? Can it be done at all? The estimates I hear during my ten-day trip vary from five to ten to thirty years - and, in one case, never. In his book A Million Bullets, James Fergusson reports that Taleban fighters believe that their place in Paradise will be determined by their resistance to the infidel invader. How can you build peace in the face of such ferocity of purpose? You do it, the Americans say, by spending huge amounts on schools and clinics, on proper tarred roads, on rebuilding ruined infrastructure - by buying loyalty. US military units come armed not just with guns but with hundreds of thousands of dollars, to be spent right away on local projects. I watch a small group of village elders in Garmsir listen to the promises, their eyes expressionless. They seem interested only in security - relief from war, the breathing space to open up their markets again.

IRAN

American Envoy To Join Iran Talks - Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

The Bush administration will send a senior envoy this weekend to international talks with Iran about its nuclear program in what US officials described as a "one-time deal" designed to demonstrate a serious desire to negotiate a solution to the impasse over Tehran's ambitions. In a significant departure from long-standing policy, Undersecretary of State William J. Burns will join a scheduled meeting in Geneva between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, according to a senior State Department official.

US Envoy to Join Meeting With Iranians - Steven Lee Meyers, New York Times

President Bush has authorized the most significant American diplomatic contact with Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, sending the State Department’s third-ranking official to Geneva for a meeting this weekend on Iran’s nuclear program, administration officials said Tuesday. The decision appeared to bend, if not exactly break, the administration’s insistence that it would not negotiate with Iran over its nuclear programs unless it first suspended uranium enrichment, as demanded by three resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

WH Sends Envoy to Iran Meeting - Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times

The Bush administration plans to send an envoy to talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in Geneva this weekend in what would be the highest-level US-Iranian meeting in nearly three decades, officials said late Tuesday. William J. Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs and the administration's point man on Iran, will accompany European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana with Saeed Jalili in discussions aimed at persuading Tehran to stop enriching uranium. US officials insisted that Mr. Burns will not negotiate with Mr. Jalili but only listen to what the Iranian has to say.

Iranian Threat Justifies Missile Defense - Jim Garamone, AFPS

Iran’s launch of a missile with a 2,000-kilometer range last week is a concrete example of the threat the world faces from missile proliferation, the chief of the Missile Defense Agency said here today. Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. “Trey” Obering, said the United States is concerned specifically about the threat posed by developments North Korea and Iran are making in their missile programs. “Iran is working on an extended-range version of the Shahab-3 and a new 2,000-kilometer medium-range ballistic missile, which they term the Ashura,” the general said at a news conference. Iran also claimed that it had successfully launched an exploratory space vehicle in February, which, analysts concluded, also was a Shahab-3. Last week, Iran launched several short- and medium-range ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel and the US bases in the Middle East. Longer-ranged missiles are capable of striking Europe.

THE LONG WAR

Video of Teen Gitmo Inmate - The Australian

Lawyers for the youngest detainee in the war on terror last night released a video of the tearful Canadian teenager being interrogated at Guantanamo Bay. Omar Khadr is shown being questioned by Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents in February 2003. It provides a first-ever glimpse into the secretive world of questioning enemy combatants at the US-run prison in Cuba. At one point, the then 16-year-old Khadr tells the CSIS agents he was tortured while at the US military detention centre at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan, where he was first detained after his arrest in 2002. He raises his orange shirt to show the wounds he sustained. The footage covers 7 1/2 hours of questioning over three days of the boy, the son of an alleged al-Qa'ida financier. A 10-minute tape was posted on the internet and a complete version was due to follow. The 10-minute video shows no beating or physical abuse of Khadr. The Canadian remains behind bars at Guantanamo where he is accused of throwing a hand grenade that killed a US soldier in a clash in Afghanistan. Khadr's lawyers - Nathan Whitling and Dennis Edney - released the video with hopes that public reaction to the footage will prompt Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to lobby for his repatriation. Thus far, Mr Harper has maintained he will not seek Khadr's return to Canada.

Gitmo Video Offers Glimpse of Interrogations - Associated Press

Burying his face in his hands, a 16-year-old captured in Afghanistan sobs and calls out "Oh Mommy!" in a hidden-camera video released Tuesday that provides the first look at interrogations inside the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay. Lawyers for Toronto-born Omar Khadr released the tapes in hopes of generating sympathy for the young prisoner and to try to persuade the Canadian government to seek custody before he is prosecuted for war crimes at the U.S. special tribunal in Guantanamo later this year. The son of an alleged al-Qaida financier, Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US Special Forces soldier during a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan that left another soldier blinded in one eye.

Court Backs Bush on Military Detentions - Adam Liptak, New York Times

President Bush has the legal power to order the indefinite military detentions of civilians captured in the United States, the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled on Tuesday in a fractured 5-to-4 decision. But a second, overlapping 5-to-4 majority of the court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, ruled that Ali al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar now in military custody in Charleston, S.C., must be given an additional opportunity to challenge his detention in federal court there. An earlier court proceeding, in which the government had presented only a sworn statement from a defense intelligence official, was inadequate, the second majority ruled.

It’s Own Worst Enemy - Deroy Murdock, National Review opinion

As al-Qaeda in Iraq’s fortunes wane, it has no one but itself to blame. President Bush’s troop surge indisputably has crushed AQI and other terrorists, while Iraqi soldiers have honed their ability to hammer deadly insurgents. But much of AQI’s damage has been self-inflicted. Largely overlooked is the Islamo-puritanism that it inflicted on the Iraqi territories it seized. Rank-and-file Iraqis tasted life under bin Laden–style Islam, and they gagged. They responded by collaborating with American and Coalition forces to expel these mad zealots from their midst. At one level, AQI’s religious decrees have been nearly comical: As the Institute for War & Peace Reporting’s Sahar Hussein al-Haideri revealed before she herself was murdered in June 2007, terrorists targeting what they considered pagan symbols bombed a statue of several women hauling jars on their shoulders. “Do these statues work with police? Were they translators for the Americans or members of the dissolved Ba’ath party?” Mosul police spokesman Brigadier-General Saeed Ahmed al-Juburi asked IWPR. “Those terrorists are a bunch of idiots.”

The Military and "Soft Power" - James Martin, The New Republic opinion

The Center for US Global Engagement has just released the results of a new poll of US military officers (both active and recently retired) on current US security strategy, and its findings are pretty surprising: According to a majority of those polled, the overriding foreign policy concern of the nation--after "forcefully" defending itself from serious security threats--must be to "restore respect for US around [the] world." What's more, according to the armed forces' top brass, the second highest national security priority (behind improved counter-insurgency training) must be to strengthen our diplomatic standing around the globe and to improve our efforts to "cooperate" with others.This is, of course, for strategic, not sentimental, reasons: According to more than three-quarters of the officers queried, the level of respect for the US abroad makes "a lot of difference" to its ability to achieve military objectives.

So Popular and So Spineless - Thomas Friedman, New York Times opinion

Much ink has been spilled lately decrying the decline in American popularity around the world under President Bush. Polls tell us how China is now more popular in Asia than America and how few Europeans say they identify with the United States. I am sure there is truth to these polls. We should have done better in Iraq. An America that presides over Abu Ghraib, torture and Guantánamo Bay deserves a thumbs-down. But America is not and never has been just about those things, which is why I also find some of these poll results self-indulgent, knee-jerk and borderline silly. Friday’s vote at the UN on Zimbabwe reminded me why.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Gates Warns of Militarized Policy - Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned yesterday against the risk of a "creeping militarization" of US foreign policy, saying the State Department should lead US engagement with other countries, with the military playing a supporting role. "We cannot kill or capture our way to victory" in the long-term campaign against terrorism, Gates said, arguing that military action should be subordinate to political and economic efforts to undermine extremism. In a related development, the Pentagon yesterday released the list of Army officers nominated by President Bush for promotion to the rank of one-star general, marking a new generation of Army leaders. The list, resulting from a selection board led by Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, includes several officers skilled in the counterinsurgency doctrine that Petraeus helped write -- a doctrine that embraces a broader approach to winning conflicts centered on protecting and providing for local populations.

Language Program Launches Web Site to Aid Deploying Troops - AFPS

A Defense Department program that provides cultural and linguistic training to soon-to-deploy military personnel has activated a new Web site. Launched this month, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center’s new online resource offers deploying servicemembers easier access to hundreds of linguistic materials, free of charge, according to a DLIFLC news release. Language lessons can be viewed, downloaded, and ordered at www.dliflc.edu under the “Products” tab. Aspiring students must register and receive DLIFLC account approval before placing an order. Among other curricula, the Web site offers Language Survival Kits: pocket-size booklets with audio CDs in more than 30 languages that outline common greetings, military commands, medical vocabulary and other useful phrases in the native tongue of the students’ destination.

Canada Deports US Army Deserter - Globe and Mail

US army deserter Robin Long was quietly deported from Canada Tuesday morning, while protesters unaware of his whereabouts picketed the Canada-US border crossing south of Vancouver. “I can confirm that the removal took place but the Privacy Act prevents any discussion of the specifics of the case,” Shakila Manzoor, a spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency, said today in an interview. She declined to say at what time he was sent back, where he crossed the border or who received him.

NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION

NATO Hires Coke Executive to Retool Brand - Stephen Castle, New York Times

During the cold war, when Western and Warsaw Pact tanks massed on either side of the Iron Curtain, the idea of a brand for NATO would have been ludicrous because everyone knew why it was important. Not anymore. Less than a year before its 60th anniversary, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is determined to revamp its image, establishing a media operations center for Afghanistan and hiring an executive from Coca-Cola to manage the way the alliance is seen around the world. Nineteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, confronted by evidence of ignorance or indifference among many in its 26 member nations, NATO is rethinking how it communicates with the taxpayers who pay for it.

US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Candidates Find Some Accord - Weisman and Eilperin, Washington Post

Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain shifted their foreign policy focus yesterday from the future of US military involvement in Iraq to the deteriorating war in Afghanistan, with both White House hopefuls pledging thousands of additional troops and a large-scale infusion of aid for the Afghan conflict. In doing so, the two men offered sharply different assessments of the Iraq war and its impact on Afghanistan, with Obama saying Iraq is a distraction from the fight against terrorism and McCain calling it a proving ground for tactics needed to beat back a resurgent Taliban. After weeks of verbal combat over Iraq, the candidates offered prescriptions for Afghanistan with striking similarities -- though the sniping went on unabated. Both men spoke passionately, not only about military assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan but also of nonmilitary aid to foster democracy and goodwill in the region. Both spoke broadly of building alliances to combat terrorism, transforming South Asia "from a theater for regional rivalries into a commons for regional cooperation," as McCain put it.

Obama Stands by Timetable - Nicholas and Abcarian, Los Angeles Times

As he prepares for an extensive trip overseas, Barack Obama delivered a sweeping foreign policy address Tuesday in which he sought to reassure his supporters that he remains committed to ending the war in Iraq. Obama, who has been trying to counter perceptions that he has softened his position since he locked up the Democratic presidential nomination, said the nation's future hinged on reorienting its national security priorities so that Iraq is no longer the central thrust of the US military. As the Iraq war winds down, Obama said, he wants to see troops redirected to Afghanistan. He said the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda was a war "we have to win" and repeated his call for two more combat brigades in Afghanistan to counteract "deteriorating" conditions.

Obama to Shift US Focus - Toby Harnden, Daily Telegraph

Senator Barack Obama has vowed to shift America's focus from Iraq towards battling al-Qa'eda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In a speech in Washington he branded the war in the Middle East a distraction that "diminishes our security, our standing in the world". Almost simultaneously, President George W Bush described Afghanistan as "reminiscent" of Iraq two years ago and John McCain, Mr Obama's Republican opponent, promised to send 15,000 more troops to Afghanistan and double the size of the Afghan army. Although cloaked in the language of partisan politics at the height of an election campaign, the statements of all three men indicated a new consensus that Afghanistan, where nine American troops were killed in a single Taliban attack this week, was becoming the principal theatre of war for the United States.

The Iron Timetable - Washington Post editorial

Barack Obama yesterday accused President Bush and Sen. John McCain of rigidity on Iraq: "They said we couldn't leave when violence was up, they say we can't leave when violence is down." Mr. Obama then confirmed his own foolish consistency. Early last year, when the war was at its peak, the Democratic candidate proposed a timetable for withdrawing all US combat forces in slightly more than a year. Yesterday, with bloodshed at its lowest level since the war began, Mr. Obama endorsed the same plan. After hinting earlier this month that he might "refine" his Iraq strategy after visiting the country and listening to commanders, Mr. Obama appears to have decided that sticking to his arbitrary, 16-month timetable is more important than adjusting to the dramatic changes in Iraq. Mr. Obama's charge against the Republicans was not entirely fair, since Mr. Bush has overseen the withdrawal of five American brigades from Iraq this year, and Mr. McCain has suggested that he would bring most of the rest of the troops home by early 2013. Mr. Obama's timeline would end in the summer of 2010, a year or two before the earliest dates proposed recently by members of the Iraqi government.

Barack Obama & the Democratic Affliction - The National Review editorial

It’s bizarre to see an American political party so afflicted by American military success. The Democrats have been laboring to look the other way from the security gains forged by the troop surge in Iraq, but now the progress is so widely acknowledged that they have had to change tack. Sen. Obama’s advisers have taken to saying that the Illinois senator knew all along the surge would improve security, an obvious falsehood (see the quote above). Old Cold Warriors will recall this trick from the end of the Soviet Union - as soon as we had won the Cold War, opponents of our winning efforts said they had favored it all along. We haven’t won the Iraq war, of course, which is why the debate over it is so consequential. Obama took to the pages of the New York Times Monday to explain, “My Plan for Iraq.” He reiterated his support for a 16-month pullout. We think - and certainly hope - that somewhere deep inside Obama realizes how unworkable and risky this timeline would be.

Barack Obama: The Security Strategy - The Times editorial

The Democratic contender is using a forthcoming trip to Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan, and a foreign policy speech in Washington yesterday, to bolster his credentials as a future commander-in-chief - one area where John McCain has a significant poll advantage. Equally, Mr Obama wants to impress on allies naively hoping for a radical shift in US policy that he will pursue American national interests as single-mindedly as anyone. What the world expects from a Democrat in the White House may prove very different from what it gets. The focus of both his speech and his trip is Iraq. This is one area of foreign policy where the two candidates have sharply differing views. Mr McCain has never retracted his vigorous support for the war, his backing for the surge or commitment to keep US troops there as long as they are needed. Mr Obama, by contrast, has made much of his opposition, from the start, to the invasion and his determination to bring US troops home as soon as possible. While Iraq was going badly, his denunciations played well with the electorate. Now things are improving, US voters are less gloomy about Iraq. And Mr Obama is finding that he needs a more nuanced message.

Flipping Out - The New Republic editorial

So Obama will listen to his generals and consider the facts on the ground before fully withdrawing from Iraq. OMG! WTF? Rick Klein of ABC News exclaimed, "There's been lots of speculation this week about whether Barack Obama has an Iraq problem. He does now." Time's Mark Halperin told Anderson Cooper, "This is one of the biggest things that's happened so far in the general election." Yes, it's stop-the-presses enormous: Barack Obama has affirmed a position that he has held for months. Granted, the press was right to notice that Obama had shifted the accent in his Iraq talk--no doubt marketing himself to a broader audience. But the fine print of his pronouncements and policy papers has always contained nuances and caveats, reasons why he might slow down a pullout and keep troops in Iraq over a longer horizon.

Do Security a Favor - Eric Egland, National Review opinion

To those of us who have served on the ground in combat zones, however, talk is cheap. Actions matter more. To that end, there is one simple, bipartisan action that both presidential candidates can take together to demonstrate that they mean what they say. McCain and Obama should cosponsor a rule change in Congress to end defense- and intelligence-contract earmarks for specific companies. Congress’s national-security favor factory works like this: certain powerful members specifically designate, or earmark, lucrative contracts for defense and intelligence programs to specifically named companies whose leaders (coincidentally, everyone insists) then deliver generous contributions to the campaigns, political-action committees (PACs), and nonprofit organizations run by the same members.

Winning in Afghanistan - Thomas Donnelly, Weekly Standard opinion

Barack Obama is striving mightily to pass the commander-in-chief test by proposing that U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq, where we are on the verge of a decisive victory against al Qaeda and Iran's "special group" proxies, and reinforce the NATO mission in Afghanistan, where at best we're only holding our own. Setting aside the timeless military wisdom that great captains reinforce success, it's instructive to compare Obama's plan for Afghanistan with that of his rival, John McCain. First, the Obama approach, as outlined in his "New Strategy for a New World" speech today: redeploy two additional US combat brigades into Afghanistan, get greater contributions and fewer restrictions from our NATO partners, accelerate the training of Afghan security forces, "invest in alternative livelihoods to poppy-growing," bolster the Karzai government and pressure the government of Pakistan to pacify the Pashtun tribal belts along the border. Nothing wrong with any of this--although "standing up for the aspirations of the Pakistani people" is no substitute for some very tough love directed at the Pakistani army--but a little underwhelming for a "war we must win" that Obama argues is the real central front in the Long War. Obama is not aiming to win, but to "finish" the war. By contrast, the McCain approach, as outlined in brief remarks this morning: three brigades, not two. A clear counterinsurgency strategy, modeled on the success of the surge in Iraq (a method that Obama still contends is a failure). A coherent campaign plan, synchronizing not just military but US and NATO civilian.

Anti-Fact Consensus - Rich Lowry, National Review opinion

At some point, Democrats decided that facts didn’t matter anymore in Iraq. And they nominated just the man to reflect the party’s new anti-factual consensus on the war, a Barack Obama who has fixedly ignored changing conditions on the ground. It’s gotten harder as the success of the surge has become undeniable, but - despite some wobbles - Obama is sticking to his plan for a 16-month timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. He musters dishonesty, evasion and straw-grasping to try to create a patina of respectability around a scandalously unserious position. Obama spokesmen now say everyone knew that President Bush’s troop surge would create more security. This is blatantly false.

AFRICA

AFRICOM Partners With African Nations to Promote Stability, Security - AFPS

US Africa Command works in partnership with African nations to help make the continent more secure against terrorism and criminal enterprises and to promote prosperity, a senior defense official said at a Capitol Hill hearing here today. “Stability and prosperity in Africa are important to the long-term interests of the United States, because a secure and stable, healthy, and more prosperous Africa will contribute to global security and a stronger world economy,” Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, said during testimony before the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. AFRICOM was stood up on Oct. 1, 2007, and its headquarters is in Stuttgart, Germany. It will be responsible for all US military activity in Africa, with the exception of Egypt, which falls under US Central Command. AFRICOM is slated to become an independent unified command Oct. 1. Many security challenges that exist in present-day Africa, such as terrorism and international criminal activity, are multinational and transnational in nature, Whelan pointed out. As a result, African governments increasingly are turning to collective security arrangements to meet the specters of terrorism and transnational crime, as well as the societal challenges presented by HIV/AIDS, other deadly diseases, and famine, she said. Any US engagement with Africa needs to be coordinated with African institutions established at the regional level in addition to traditional bilateral defense and military relationships, she said.

China Expresses 'Grave Concern' - Nora Boustany, Washington Post

China voiced concern yesterday over charges by the International Criminal Court implicating Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in state-sponsored acts of genocide in the country's embattled Darfur region, but there was no indication it would move to stall the process so close to the Aug. 8 opening of the Beijing Olympic Games. "China expresses grave concern and misgivings about the International Criminal Court prosecutor's indictment of the Sudanese leader," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regularly scheduled news conference in Beijing, according to the Reuters news service. Liu said that the court's actions should promote stability and an adequate settlement in Darfur, not the contrary.

China Criticises Darfur Genocide Charges - Richard Spencer, Daily Telegraph

China has hit out at the International Criminal Court's decision to prosecute Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir for genocide. A government spokesman questioned whether the indictment would do more harm than good. "China expresses grave concern and misgivings about the International Criminal Court prosecutor's indictment of the Sudanese leader," said Liu Jianchao, the foreign ministry's chief spokesman. "The ICC's actions must be beneficial to the stability of the Darfur region and the appropriate settlement of the issue, not the contrary."

Peace Before Justice in Darfur - Christian Science Monitor editorial

Four years ago, the US declared the conflict in Darfur to be genocide. Later the UN found "serious" human rights violations by Sudan. Now an international court is ready to finger Sudan's leader for genocide and war crimes. Do such edicts on behalf of justice help stop mass killings by a ruthless government? That's not likely in Darfur. Human rights activists say an indictment of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a moral necessity. It will assert a legal principle of universal values in the face of mass atrocities, even if the court can't bring him to trial. A threat of arrest and trial may even be a way to revive a stalled peace process. Others, who seek a negotiated peace with Sudan to save Darfur refugees, say pursuit of court justice with slim ability to act on it will only harden Sudan's position. It may push Sudan to retaliate with more violence. They point to a previous ICC indictment of two lesser Sudanese officials which has had no effect.

More Darfur Posturing - Wall Street Journal editorial

The International Criminal Court's decision to seek an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar Bashir is being hailed in the usual places as a landmark in the effort to stop the bloodshed in Darfur. In fact, the indictment is of a piece with the same toothless moral posturing that has already prolonged Darfur's misery for more than four years. The central role of the Khartoum government in supporting the Darfur killings has long been clear. As we wrote in May 2004, "this is no ordinary famine but part of the Sudanese regime's campaign against the African tribes." Former Secretary of State Colin Powell called events in Darfur "genocide" several months later.

Justice in Sudan Not Same as Peace - Nick Grono, Boston Globe opinion

In charging President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur, and asking the International Criminal Court to issue a warrant for his arrest on Monday, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo marked a momentous day for international justice. These are the first charges of genocide and the first charges against a head of state to be brought before the court. The move also creates both opportunities and risks for peace in Sudan. The challenge now facing international policymakers is how to best support the work of the ICC - with its promise to end impunity for those most responsible for conscience-shocking atrocities - while addressing the need to end the suffering of the Sudanese people and preventing any new explosion of mass violence.

AMERICAS

Drug War Mayhem Instills New Fear - Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times

In the last few days, the neighboring state of Sinaloa has been shocked by a wave of violence that has taken the lives of many innocents, including another 12-year-old girl. Authorities said Tuesday that more than 1,200 additional federal police were deployed to Sinaloa as part of a nationwide government offensive involving about 40,000 soldiers and 5,000 federal police officers. Ciudad Juarez has become a singular symbol of Mexico's drug war, a concentration of everything that can go wrong. About 3,000 troops of the Mexican army arrived here after President Felipe Calderon launched an all-out offensive against drug traffickers, yet the killings have soared. Gun battles interrupt traffic in the middle of the day along Triumph of the Republic Boulevard and the city's other main drags; corpses, sometimes mutilated or headless, turn up at shopping centers and fast-food joints; hospitals come under machine-gun fire. Ominous voices break into emergency-frequency radio traffic, warning paramedics not to pick up bodies, journalists not to approach the scene. Nearly a third of Mexico's drug-related killings in this record year have been registered in Juarez and its surroundings.

Fixing El Salvador - John Thomson, Washington Times opinion

Strategically and centrally located within Central America, tiny El Salvador has been a striking economic success in recent years. Rated by the Wall Street Journal as, after Chile, having the most open and free market in Latin America, and enjoying relative domestic calm for nearly 20 years, it nevertheless faces a relentlessly radical political opposition and is surrounded by unfriendly or failing nations. Multiple factors impact legislative elections next January, followed by presidential elections in March. The radical leftist revolutionary group turned political party, Farabundo Marti Liberation Movement (FMLN), is fighting to gain political power it never could achieve during 30 years of civil chaos. Despite solid economic growth (5 percent in 2007) and unemployment of just 5.5 percent, credible polls give the FMLN a 7 percent to 8 percent advantage over the ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), winner of the last four presidential elections.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jakarta 'Regrets' E. Timor Atrocities - Stephen Fitzpatrick, The Australian

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed "deep regret" for his military's 1999 rampage in East Timor, in which at least 1400 people died. It was the first time Indonesia had accepted any direct responsibility for the campaign of violence, which followed a referendum supporting independence from Jakarta. At the handover of a report entitled From Remembering Comes Hope, Dr Yudhoyono's East Timorese counterpart, Jose Ramos Horta, yesterday saluted those who fell during 25 years of resistance to occupation.

EUROPE

Moscow Remains Overtly Contentious - Peter Finn, Washington Post

President Dmitry Medvedev signaled Tuesday that Russian foreign policy, ostensibly now under his control, will not stray from the often contentious course set by his predecessor. Former president Vladimir Putin clashed with the West on a host of issues, including the proposed installation of a US missile defense system in Eastern Europe and the eastward expansion of the NATO alliance. Medvedev said that Russia, buoyed by oil revenue and increasing self-confidence, will continue to pursue the assertive global role that Putin made a centerpiece of his foreign policy. "Russia has become stronger and is capable of assuming greater responsibility for solving problems on both a regional and global scale," Medvedev said, speaking to a gathering of Russia's senior diplomats at the Foreign Ministry here.

US to Give Czechs Ballistic Missile Defense - Walter Pincus, Washington Post

US Navy ships in the Mediterranean will provide ballistic missile defense to the Czech Republic under a commitment contained in the agreement to place a US radar site in that country, according to State and Defense Department officials. The United States "is committed to the security of the Czech Republic and to protect and defend, by means of its ballistic missile defense system, the Czech Republic against a potential ballistic missile attack," according to the agreement signed July 8, the text of which was released by the Czech government.

IMF Recognizes Kosovo - Reuters

The International Monetary Fund said today it recognized Kosovo's secession from Serbia and will consider its membership application "in due course" as a sovereign Balkan state. The IMF's acknowledgment of Kosovo's independence is the first by a premier international institution and a boost for Kosovo's legitimacy, although there is no guarantee that its membership will be approved, with Serbia and ally Russia expected to try to block it. Kosovo broke away from Serbia in February in defiance of Belgrade and Moscow, but it has been recognized by 43 mostly Western governments including the United States and many European countries, which have a majority voting power in the IMF.

A Fatal Mistake - Helle Dale, Washington Times opinion

Ask Turks whether they believe their country can be a model for a secular Muslim state and the answer is not quite as affirmative as one might have hoped. Today, the chasm between secular and religious Turks is growing ever-wider, and the strains within the Turkish state are seriously showing. The Turkish Constitutional Court is expected to rule in the next few weeks on whether the Turkish governing party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is fundamentalist Muslim in nature, is subverting the country's political system. The court has further been asked to decide whether the president, the prime minister and 71 of its other members should be banned from politics for five years - as requested by Turkey's chief prosecutor. The equivalent would be a challenge from the US Justice Department taken all the way to the Supreme Court over whether Democrats or Republicans (with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and George Bush being the special targets) should be banned from political activity - a challenge that would shake the country and the American people's faith in democracy to its core.

MIDDLE EAST

Middle East Enemies Make History - Mark Mackinnon, Globe and Mail

Progress until now has been hard to measure, though a continuing series of indirect talks in Istanbul, where Turkish mediators have been shuttling back and forth between Israeli and Syrian delegations staying in separate hotels, suggests that something is happening. The nascent process got a push yesterday, when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Assad came face to face at a summit of Mediterranean nations in Paris. It was the first time that an Israeli prime minister and a Syrian president were in the same room together, and a chance seating arrangement based on alphabetical order landed the two men in chairs directly across the table from each other. Mr. Assad had earlier ruled out the idea of shaking hands, and in photographs appeared to be trying his best yesterday to avoid even eye contact with the Israeli leader. But in a television interview broadcast on Al-Jazeera, Mr. Assad said he was ready for "normal relations" with Israel after a peace agreement.

Hezbollah Gives Coffins to Israel - Associated Press

Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas turned over to Israel two coffins believed to contain the bodies of Israeli soldiers, setting in motion a dramatic prisoner swap between the bitter enemies Wednesday. Forensics teams began tests to identify the two bodies in a process that could take several hours, the Israeli army said. Meanwhile, trucks carrying the remains of some 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters began crossing into Lebanon as part of the exchange.

Israeli General Demeans Prisoner Swap - Joshua Mitnick, Washington Times

Retired Brig. Gen. Yosi Tsachor pulled back his shirt to reveal scars across his chest - bullet wounds that almost ended his life nearly three decades ago as he chased terrorist Samir Kantar through this coastal town near the Lebanese border. Kantar had just dragged an Israeli man and his 4-year-old daughter onto the beach, then fatally shot the father in front of the little girl before smashing her skull and killing her as well. With Kantar set to be freed Wednesday in a swap of five Lebanese prisoners for two Israeli soldiers who are probably dead, Gen. Tsachor can only cringe. "Once we pay the same thing for living and dead it endangers soldiers in the future,´´ the retired general told The Washington Times on Tuesday.

Prisoner Deal Reopens an Israeli Wound - Dina Kraft, New York Times

Israel is a tale of family tragedies lived out within small distances. Consider the Harans and the Goldwassers, two families in Nahariya linked by shocking killings nearly 30 years ago that have returned anew to break mothers’ hearts. Their stories have reopened wounds in a nation that expects on Wednesday to swap a prisoner held responsible for the deaths of three members of the Haran family for the remains of a Goldwasser son taken hostage just across the border in Lebanon in 2006. Soon after midnight on April 22, 1979, Samir Kuntar, 16, a Lebanese Druse, slipped from a small boat onto one of Nahariya’s beaches along with three other fighters from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. That bloody night is seared into Israel’s national consciousness, one of the great tragedies in a country marked by them. The four men killed a policeman and broke into an apartment building and kidnapped a young father, Danny Haran, and his 4-year-old daughter, Einat, taking them to a nearby beach. Mr. Kuntar was found guilty of murdering Mr. Haran in front of Einat, then turning to the child and crushing her skull against a rock with the butt of his rifle.

Hezbollah Delivers Remains of Two Israeli Soldiers - Reuters

Hezbollah handed over coffins said to contain the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross at the Israeli-Lebanese border on Wednesday to exchange for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. Hezbollah's al-Manar TV showed two black coffins being unloaded from a vehicle after Hezbollah security official Wafik Safa disclosed for the first time that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were dead. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) took charge of the coffins of the two army reservists and drove them across the border into Israel. The soldiers' capture in 2006 sparked a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.

SOUTH ASIA

Bhutto's Ally Launches Zardari Attack - Bruce Loudon, The Australian

Pakistan's ruling People's Party (PPP) split asunder yesterday when Benazir Bhutto's right-hand man launched a full-scale attack on her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, blaming him for the country's deepening woes. Veteran leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who was sitting next to Bhutto when she was assassinated last December and remains, in theory, the party's president, accused Mr Zardari of "holding the party hostage" and blamed the PPP Government for the "mess" the country was in. "The law and order situation is worsening, people are committing suicide along with their children, frontiers are unsafe, prices are rampantly rising and terrorist acts are rising in the country," Mr Fahim said in an interview with The News. The comments reflect widespread disenchantment within the Bhutto party over the Government's first 100 days in office - and Mr Zardari's role in the administration.

EVENTS OF INTEREST

22 July - Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare (Public Event). Washington, DC. The Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) is sponsoring a discussion on counterinsurgency on 22 July 2008, at the National Press Club (the Holeman Lounge), Washington, DC. Dr. John Nagl (Center for a New American Security), Dr. Daniel Marston (Australian National University), and Dr. Carter Malkasian (CNA) recently collaborated on Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare (Osprey, 2008), an edited book that examines 13 of the most important counterinsurgency campaigns of the past 100 years, including the current Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Dr. David Kilcullen (U.S. State Department), the renowned counterinsurgency expert, will moderate the discussion and provide critical commentary. Lunch will be provided. Books will be available to purchase at a discounted rate. For more information, visit the first link above. RSVP at kattm@cna.org or 703.824.2436.

11-15 August - Counterinsurgency Leaders Workshop (Official Event - Workshop). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The US Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency (COIN) Center is hosting a five-day program for prospective counterinsurgency leaders, 11-15 August 2008, at the Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The program is focused on equipping leaders with an understanding of the insurgency and counterinsurgency environments, as well as close consideration of the kinds of persons and organizations that usually emerge from insurgencies in contrast to those of conventional conflicts. This event will be held at the Battle Command Training Center (BCTC) Training Facility on Fort Leavenworth. Seating is limited. However, registration is open to any person who serves in any official capacity with regard to dealing with insurgencies, with priority is given to those applying from invited organizations. Other applicants will be reviewed for eligibility on a space-available, case-by-case basis. The duty is uniform/business casual. Application must completed on-line at the link above. The deadline for application is 1 August 2008. For more information, contact the COIN Center at 913-684-5196.

11-12 September - DNI Open Source Conferece 2008 (Public Event - Conference). Washington, DC. Sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The Office of the DNI is pleased to announce the "DNI Open Source Conference 2008" to be held on Thursday, 11 September and Friday, 12 September, 2008 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington DC. The conference is free; however, all who wish to attend must register online in advance (deadline 31 July). The two-day conference will explore a wide range of open source issues and open source best practices for the Intelligence Community and its partners. We invite participants from the broader open source community of interest including academia, think tanks, private industry, federal, state, local and tribal entities, international partners, and the media to attend. The conference will include speakers from across the broader open source community participating in panel discussions and focus group sessions. Information about the agenda and break-out sessions is now available. The DNI Open Source Conference 2007 was held 16-17 July 2007 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. More than 900 registered participants and speakers attended. Presentations made at the conference break-out sessions are available on the DNI Open Source Conference 2007 website.

16-18 September 2008 - The U.S. Army and the Interagency Process: A Historical Perspective (Public Event - Conference / Call for Papers). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Sponsored by the U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute. The symposium will include a variety of guest speakers, panel sessions, and general discussions. This symposium will explore the partnership between the U.S. Army and government agencies in attaining national goals and objectives in peace and war within a historical context. Separate international topics may be presented. The symposium will also examine current issues, dilemmas, problems, trends, and practices associated with U.S. Army operations requiring close interagency cooperation.